


The Things We Could Never Say

by JellyJaynes



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Focused on the messy relationships and lack of emotional intelligence Fire Emblem is known for, Gen, This was for the Claws&Paws Felix zine!, catboy!Felix, you can read the relationships as either platonic or romantic whatever your heart desires reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:08:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25796404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JellyJaynes/pseuds/JellyJaynes
Summary: Much to Annette's dismay her gift has turned Felix into a cat! Running around trying to turn back, he meets his Blue Lions classmates- will he be able to keep his identity hidden or will some other secrets come out first?
Kudos: 17





	The Things We Could Never Say

Felix could feel her eyes drilling into his back as he trained. At least she learned from last time to keep her distance till he was done, he thought to himself. Ignoring her, he refocused on fending off the invisible enemies he imagined surrounding him, feigning one way only to slash upwards, defeating one.  Imagining  the two behind him rushing forward, he quickly spun and with a flourish disarmed and dispatched them. Now there was only one enemy left, albeit one much more real than the ones he had just fought. 

“What do you want this time Annette,” he asked, turning to see Annette peeking around the door at him. 

She instantly leapt into the room, bounding over to him at his acknowledgment. Very few people could get Felix to retreat, but her overwhelming, bubbly personality made him take a step back, putting space between them. With no hesitation she took another step closer. Felix wasn’t sure if he was sweating from just having finished training or from how much she was invading his personal space. Not wanting to lose, he held his ground and glared down at her. 

Annette, in her typical fashion, paid his glare no mind. She was beaming from ear to ear with her hands hidden behind her back, something that instantly made him apprehensive. 

“Hey Felix! Glad I found you here!” Her face was inches from his own with a grin the polar opposite of his own frown. “I think I finally found the perfect bribe for you.”

Felix sighed, his fears confirmed. This was something she had been doing all week in an effort to get him to forget when he’d walked in on her singing to herself. The bribes thus far had included doing his chores, free steak, and agreeing to train with him. Felix had to begrudgingly admit that she was very quickly learning how to effectively bribe him, which piqued his interest in what this new bribe could be. 

“You don’t have to keep trying to bribe me,” he told her, crossing his arms. It wasn’t like he’d tell anyone her secret anyway, especially since she seemed so mortified by the possibility. Plus, even if she bribed him it’s not like he could do as she wanted and forget her singing- her songs and voice had firmly lodged themselves in his head. He’d even caught himself humming a few of them when he wasn’t paying attention. 

“Of course I have to bribe you,” Annette huffed at him, “You saw me doing something embarrassing!” Felix felt his brow furrow even more than it already was. He really didn’t understand why she was so stubborn about this.

_ Not just this,  _ Felix thought to himself, reflecting on everything else she was stubborn about. Her insistence on sharing sweets, taking on all the work herself, and even on being his friend. A core part of her personality was being stubborn, and Felix often found himself butting heads with that part of her. 

Sighing, he decided it would be quicker to just accept her bribe than try and explain why it wouldn’t work. 

“Fine, what do you have today?” he asked her. 

Giggling and clearly pleased she had won him over, she pulled her hands from behind her back, presenting a small box to him. 

“This!” 

His wariness was directly proportional to the excitement in her voice. Taking the box from her, its hefty weight surprised him. Slowly cracking open the lid, he half expected it to explode like one of her magic experiments gone wrong. 

“It’s not going to hurt you,” Annette assured him, practically jumping up and down in her excitement. “Hurry up and open it!” 

Raising an eyebrow but trusting that anything she gave him probably wouldn’t be lethal, he tilted the box, the contents falling into his palm. Sitting there was a small pendant shaped like a curled-up cat. Its black velvet fur shifted color as he inspected it, and small silver claws peeked out of the paws. Tracing his finger along them, they would have been sharp enough to cut him if he applied any real pressure. A sparkling yellow jewel had been set for the eyes- he wasn’t sure what kind they were, but he could probably get Ignatz to identify it for him.

It was obviously a high-quality item, even to his untrained eye. Everything about it seemed alive, so much that he wasn’t sure it wouldn’t uncurl itself right there in his palm.

“You’re bribing me with expensive jewelry?” he asked her incredulously. How she had come to the conclusion that something like this would win him over was beyond him. 

“No silly,” Annette corrected him excitedly, “it’s not just some piece of expensive jewelry! It’s a magic pendant that’s supposed to give you the speed and agility of a cat. I found it while cleaning out storage.” 

Annette produced a slip of paper with a magic circle drawn on it. Waving it at him, she asked mischievously, “Want me to activate it for you?” 

Felix was torn. On the one hand his common sense was reminding him of all the other times she’d tried new magic and it had gone horribly wrong, and the high likelihood that it would be the same this time. On the other hand, she had improved remarkably in her magic studies recently, and had even been able to teach him a bit of Reason. Plus, the prospect of increasing his speed and agility was sorely tempting. 

He switched his gaze from Annette’s grin down to the cat nestled in his palm. The cat gazed back at him. 

Resigning himself to whatever was about to happen to him, he closed his fist to tightly hold the pendant. 

“Fine, I’ll accept your bribe.” Annette clapped her hands together in delight. 

“Great! This’ll be over lickety split!” Closing her eyes to focus, Annette gathered her energy to cast the magic. The pendant started to burn against his hand in reaction as the magic circle drawn on the paper appeared in the air between him and Annette. 

Felix grimaced against the pain, squeezing his eyes shut. It felt like the pendant was melting into his hand. The pain quickly grew unbearable. When he tried to drop it, he found his hand couldn’t open. The velvet fur was melded with his skin, spreading. Tightening his grip against the pain, he felt his claws dig into his palm. The feel of the pendant slowly disappeared completely from his hand along with the pain.

Felix blinked his eyes open. The light in the room seemed brighter than before. Looking up at Annette, she blinked back at him rapidly, a surprised look on her face. 

Had he always had to look so far up at Annette? Wasn’t she shorter than him? Felix flicked his tail in annoyance as he tried to remember. 

Then froze.

Slowly twisting to look behind him, Felix starred at the jet-black tail now agitatedly flicking back and forth.  _ His  _ tail. 

His ears flattened against his head as he spun back around to face Annette. Arching his back and fluffing up his fur, he started yowling.

“ _ You turned me into a cat! How did you mess up this badly!”  _ He could hear that he was only hissing, and not speaking English. But his outburst kicked Annette out of her shock, and she instantly dropped to her knees, fretting over him. 

“Oh Goddess, I’m so sorry Felix! This wasn’t supposed to happen!” Felix hissed at her again, batting her hands away from him. 

“ _ Just change me back already!”  _ Hopefully she’d be able to understand what he wanted. It shouldn’t be  _ that  _ hard to figure out!

“I’m so so sorry,” she repeated, grabbing his face. “I’ll definitely change you back! Somehow!” The panic was rising in her voice. Much to Felix’s horror, she clearly didn’t know how to change him back. 

“I just need to do some research!” grabbing Felix and hugging him against her chest, Annette took off towards the library. “Don’t worry, I can figure this out!”

“ _ How can I not worry?!”  _ Felix spat at her, “ _ I got turned into a cat!” _

Annette hugged him even tighter against her chest in response. He could feel her heart racing and faintly smell the scent of fear on her due to his new cat senses. 

“I promise I’ll change you back, Felix,” she assured him and probably herself. Resigning himself, he stopped squirming in her arms so much. He was fairly confident she could figure out how to turn him back, and even if she couldn’t one of the professors would be able to. Hopefully. 

Throwing open the door, Annette barged into the library. A startled Ingrid and Ashe quickly looked up from the book they were sharing to stare at them. 

“Oh, hello Annette,” Ashe greeted her, “did you come here to study?”

“Something like that,” Annette told him with a nervous laugh. Felix cursed their bad luck. He really hadn’t wanted anyone to see him like this, yet here were both Ashe and Ingrid. Attempting to hide, he burrowed deeper into Annette’s arms.

“Hold on Annette, are you holding a cat?” Ingrid asked, standing up. Fear gripped Felix’s heart; Ingrid loved cats and he had no desire to fall into her clutches. 

“Umm…kind of...” Annette stammered out, doing her best to shield him from view.

“ _ Don’t you dare tell them it’s me,”  _ Felix growled, glaring up at her. Even though he couldn’t speak her language anymore, she got the message. Gulping she quickly added, 

“Yes! It’s one of the strays here! I thought he’d be, uh, a good... study... buddy?” she finished off meekly. Though a bit puzzled, the two seemed to accept her explanation. Both Felix and Annette let out a sigh of relief. A short-lived relief as Ingrid stood up.

“Can I pet him?” she asked, eagerly reaching out. Quickly wiggling out of Annette's arms, Felix leapt onto the table to get out of reach. Crouching and tail twitching, he glared at her hand. 

“Not very friendly, is he?” She sounded dejected at his rejection of her advances, bending closer to get a better look at him. Narrowing her eyes, Felix felt his hackles rise. 

With a speed that had often bested him in training too, Ingrid scooped him off the table and into her arms. He’d wondered before why all the clearly unhappy cats she picked up never ran away, but now he understood. She had perfected her grip, leaving him no way to wiggle free. 

“It’s alright kitty cat, I won’t hurt you,” she cooed at him, gently rubbing the side of his cheek. It felt strangely pleasant, but he quickly nipped at her finger, half angry, half afraid he’d start purring if she did it again. Flipping him onto his back as punishment, Ingrid tried to make it past his sharp claws to pet his belly. 

“You know, if Felix were a cat, he’d probably look like this,” Ingrid observed. “His attitude certainly matches.”

Ashe, careful to avoid getting within paws reach, also leaned in to get a closer look at him. 

“You’re right,” he agreed. 

Annette stood off to the side, looking as mortified as Felix felt. His tail lashed angrily as he glared over at her. If they found out he was the cat they were currently cooing over, he’d never forgive her.

Trying to change the subject and hopefully get them to stop harassing Felix, Annette quickly interjected, asking them, “So what were you two up to?”

Ashe stopped inspecting Felix long enough to point at the open book sitting on the table. One page was filled with text while the other had a beautiful illustration of a cloaked knight leaving behind his castle to embark on a solo journey. 

“We were reading a knight's tale together. It’s one of my favorites, so I thought I’d share it with Ingrid,” he explained.

“The knight also reminded us of Felix,” Ingrid chimed in. “Just like you little guy!” she told Felix, rubbing her nose against his. Smacking her as hard as he could with his paw, she pulled away, laughing.

“ _ Next time I’ll use my claws,”  _ he spat at her, trying yet again to squirm out of her grasp, to no avail. Ashe reached out, softly scratching behind his ear. Ingrid held him tighter, meaning Felix could only growl intimidatingly at them. Apparently not intimidatingly enough, as Ashe continued to pet him. 

“The knight in the story is sarcastic and intimidating, just like Felix and cat-Felix over here,” Ashe explained. Annette and Felix stiffened- Ashe had probably meant it as a joke, but little did he know how hard he had hit the nail on the head. 

“But underneath that, all of them are kind and care for their friends. The knight may have a sharp tongue, but he’ll always swoop in to save his friends no matter the danger, just like Felix. And notice how cat-Felix isn’t using his claws? He wouldn’t really hurt us, even if he threatens it.”

Felix felt like Ashe was reading him like he would read one of his stories. Forcing one paw free of Ingrid’s grasp, he slashed at Ashe’s hand, claws out. 

“ _ Who won’t use his claws?”  _ Felix snarled at him. Ashe yanked his hand out of reach, unharmed. Annette quickly stepped in, taking him back from Ingrid.

“You both really like knights huh,” she asked them, trying to divert their attention from Felix. 

“Of course! I want nothing more than to be a noble knight who can save people, like Felix and the story's knight!” Ashe confirmed excitedly. His eyes shined as he described this ideal, even though it made Felix want to throw up a hairball. 

“Noble is not a word I would pick for Felix,” Ingrid scoffed. “When we were kids maybe, but now he’s just cynical.” She looked over at the book on the table. “A cynical knight who chooses to leave the people who care about him behind.” 

The bitterness in her words felt like an attack. Sensing his growing tension, Annette piped up. 

“C’mon Ingrid, that’s not fair. You guys may not get along as well as before, but you’re still friends!” Ingrid sighed, considering her words. 

“Maybe, but I still wish we could go back to how it was.” Her brow furrowed from the influx of memories. The same memories that were bubbling up in Felix’s own mind, which he quickly shoved away. Annette tightened her grip on him, biting her lip.

“I think your wish will get through to him, Ingrid,” she said. Ingrid looked skeptical, years of Felix driving a wedge between them making it seem improbable in her eyes. Annette chose her next words carefully.

“If you two could say anything to Felix right now, what would it be?” she tentatively asked. Felix dug his claws into her arm as a warning. 

“ _ What are you doing,”  _ he growled at her, deep enough that she could only feel it, not hear it. Annette didn’t look at him, instead patiently awaiting their answers. Ashe answered first. 

“I’d tell him I’m a little bit jealous,” he admitted, blushing slightly. “He’s so many things I aspire to be: strong, noble, assertive…” 

Felix studied Ashe’s face intently. Did he really admire him that much? Ashe shouldn’t try to be like him- his natural self was a far better fit if he wanted to be his ideal knight. 

“I want to become strong enough that I can protect him like he protects me.” Ashe’s embarrassment at the confession colored his cheeks as he fell silent. Felix was glad cats couldn’t blush.

Perhaps emboldened by Ashe’s sincerity, Ingrid seriously considered the question. 

“I’d tell him I miss him,” she eventually decided. “I’d ask him to stop pushing me away.” Felix looked away from her, memories of their childhood threatening to surface again. It had been years since they were close, yet she was still clinging to that hope.

The silence was suffocating to Felix, their words spinning in his head. Eventually Annette spoke up. “I should probably get back to studying...” 

“Wait, let me put this on him,” Ingrid said, producing a blue hair ribbon from her pocket. Felix was too distracted to fight her as she tied it in a little bow around his neck. “We can tell Felix to look out for a cat in a blue ribbon that looks just like him.” 

“Ooh that looks so cute!” Annette squealed, lifting him up, high above her head. “A cute little kitty~~ In a cute blue ribbon~~ Off to the ball, gonna dance the night away~~.”

Annette’s singing snapped his thoughts back into focus, a reminder that it was her singing that had gotten him turned into a cat in the first place. He’d had enough of this humiliation. Her grip was far weaker than Ingrid’s, so Felix easily twisted out of her hands. Landing on his feet, he bolted out the library. 

Allowing his instincts to take over, he didn’t stop, even as Annette called for him to. He would go find her later after he’d gotten this stupid ribbon off and hopefully after she’d found a way to turn him back. 

Slowing to a stop, Felix realized everything looked unfamiliar from his new angle close to the ground. Leaping on top of a nearby fence, he surveyed his surroundings, trying to figure out where he’d wound up. Higher up, it became obvious that he was by the training grounds. His tail flicked back and forth. It seemed natural that this was the place he’d gone without thinking. 

The sounds of metal clashing inside caught his attention. Jumping down Felix slunk inside the hall, sticking to the shadows. Peering around a pile of armor, disgust filled him as he recognized who was fighting. 

Flourishing his lance, Dimitri parried Dedue’s hefty axe. The two continued their exchange of blows, displaying a skill with their weapons that only came from battle-hardened experience. As always, Dimitri’s skill was undeniable- even Dedue was sent stumbling back by the boar's brute strength and precision with his weapon. The display was captivating, and Felix felt rooted to the spot, unable to tear his eyes away. 

As he watched though, Dimitri’s form started slipping. His swings were quickly becoming less elegant, more frenzied. He was ruthlessly hacking away at Dedue’s defense. No restraint in the violent swings. A gleeful cackle erupted from Dimitri as he finally knocked the axe out of Dedue’s hand. 

Felix didn’t have to see Dimitri’s face to know what expression he was making. It would be the same manic, bloodthirsty one from their first battle that haunted Felix’s nightmares. 

“Die!” Dimitri screeched, lunging forward, lance pointed at Dedue’s heart. 

Felix didn’t wait. Charging out from behind the armor, he leapt onto Dimitri’s back. 

_ “That’s enough!”  _ he hissed, sinking his claws deep into Dimitri’s neck. 

Caught off-guard by this new attacker, Dimitri dropped his lance as he tried to grab at Felix. Dimitri’s blood-thirsty eyes locked with his own, sending a shiver of fear down his spine. Dimitri wouldn’t hesitate to snap his neck in this state. Ripping his claws out, he jumped away. 

Dimitri attempted to chase him, but Dedue managed to catch him first, restraining him against his chest. 

“I’ll kill you! I’ll tear you all limb from limb!” Dimitri screamed, his fingers gouging long cuts into Dedue’s arm as he struggled to escape. Dedue barely grimaced, and Felix wondered just how many scars were from his own master and not enemies on the battlefield. 

“Your Highness, it’s alright. Please try to calm down,” Dedue said calmly, continuing to tightly hold him. Felix flattened himself against the ground, glaring at the two. 

Slowly Dimitri stopped trying to break free, coming back to his senses. Blinking the last of the madness away, he stared down at Dedue’s fresh cuts and then his own bloody fingernails. Finally, he looked over to Felix.

“It seems I have you to thank for saving Dedue from myself.” His madness subsided, Dedue slowly let go of him. Without the malice that had been palpable just seconds before, Dimitri reached out towards Felix.

Instinctively he hissed, arching his back, all hairs standing on end. He knew the boar could change back in a split second. Dimitri froze. Despite looking seconds away from shattering emotionally, he smiled instead.

“That’s a good reaction... When I get like that, I’m very dangerous to those I care about,” Dimitri told him, dropping his hand. “I wish more people would just stop me like you, rather than get hurt trying to save me.” 

Dimitri’s back was to Dedue, so he didn’t see how he clenched his fist nor the deep sorrow that consumed him the same way Dimitri’s madness did.  _ Those words probably hurt more than any wound Dimitri had inflicted _ , Felix thought. His face said he would gladly bear any injury from Dimitri, never lifting a finger against him, trying to stop him from falling deeper into his murderous nightmare. 

Still wary, Felix forced his fur to lay flat again, slowly standing up. 

“ _ I’ll always stop you, boar.”  _ It didn’t really matter that all Dimitri could hear was a meow. Giving him one last searching look, Felix eventually spun around to stalk out of the training room, leaving the two of them to tend to their wounds. 

The sun felt refreshing after the darkness of the training room. Even with that, Dimitri’s last words continued to echo in his head; Felix was sure that the expression he wore saying that would appear alongside his blood thirsty face in his nightmares going forward. For such a savage creature to hold back tears while he wished for someone to stop him...

Giving himself a shake, Felix focused his thoughts on finding Annette. She may have figured out how to turn him back already. Setting off towards the library, he decided to cut through the foyer by the dining hall. On the way, a familiar voice sent him scurrying behind a pillar. 

“C’mon, it’s not like that!” Peeking around the pillar, Felix was just in time to see the woman Sylvain was flirting with yank her hand out of his own. “That other girl has nothing on a woman like you,” he pressed, trying to hold her hand again.

Even Felix knew that was the wrong answer. Using her now free hand, she slapped him across the cheek. Felix winced at the red mark, but Sylvain hardly seemed bothered by it as she stormed off. 

Sighing, Sylvain leaned up against the wall, sliding down it to sit on the floor. Felix wandered towards him. 

“ _ You deserved that,”  _ Felix scolded him, tail waiving high in the air. Sylvain’s eyebrows raised as he took a seat in front of him. 

“Are you here to slap me too, little guy?” Sylvain asked him, swiping playfully at his ears. Felix twitched them in response; smiling, Sylvain dropped his hand to his lap, leaning against the wall. 

“With a ribbon like that, you must have more luck with the ladies than me,” Sylvain told him, studying the ribbon tied around his neck. “Maybe I should take you along with me.”

“ _ Maybe you should focus on training instead,”  _ Felix meowed back, narrowing his eyes into slits. Sylvain really would never change, no matter how many times he got slapped. Felix flexed his claws. They might be enough to get him to change his behavior. 

Probably not though. 

Felix stood up to leave- he couldn’t properly lecture Sylvain as a cat anyways. 

“So even you can’t stand to be with me, huh?” Sylvain asked as he turned away. His voice had lost its typical carefree tone- instead it fell flat. Felix paused, glancing at him over his shoulder. 

It wasn’t just his voice. His entire face, from the empty eyes to the straight-lined lips, were hollow. His shoulders, usually held high with bravado, were slouched. A husk of his normal self. Felix’s throat tightened at the hauntingly familiar sight. He’d looked the same after the well incident and after he got named heir to house Gautier. 

“It’s better if everyone rejects me anyway,” Sylvain deadpanned, not even trying to muster a false bravado. He shooed at Felix, continuing, “None of it means anything since I’m a noble with a crest.”

Was it anger at Sylvain’s stupid words making his heart twist like this? It didn’t matter what feeling it was, Felix just wished it would go away. 

He softly padded over to his side. Sylvain tracked him with his eyes, expression unchanging. Felix knew Sylvain was so much more than a noble with a crest, yet he hid behind that shield, goofing off rather than face anything sincerely. 

Making sure his claws were fully sheathed, he gingerly stepped up onto Sylvain’s leg. Reaching out a paw, he patted Sylvain’s still-red cheek. Words weren’t an option in this form and weren’t really his strong suit anyway. Hopefully this would be enough.

Sylvain’s eyes widened. “Are you trying to cheer me up?” he asked him, shocked. Scoffing, he gently stroked Felix’s head—something he begrudgingly allowed. 

“You’re like him,” Sylvain said, “You stayed with me.” A little bit of life was coming back to his brown eyes, a color Felix had never really taken note of until this moment. Sylvain gently bumped their foreheads together. Felix could feel his eyelashes fluttering against his fur as he slowly closed his eyes, expression softening. 

“Don’t leave me,” Sylvain mumbled softly. “Please don’t leave me, you or Felix.” 

The mention of his name sent Felix into a panic. His heart was about to leap out of his chest. On reflex, Felix slapped Sylvain’s nose, making him jerk back. Leaping off his lap, Felix sprinted away, ignoring Sylvain’s calls after him. 

Felix’s mind was racing.  _ Everyone is saying such ridiculous things!  _ He careened around corners, trying to outrun the words chasing him.  _ Ingrid, Ashe, Dedue, Dimitri, and now even Sylvain!? Why is everyone spilling their heart out to a cat!? _

Felix rounded another corner, only to smack headfirst into someone's legs. 

"Oh, are you alright Mr. kitty? Did you get hurt?" The woman's familiar voice spiked his already high irritation levels. With his luck today it was only natural he’d also run into her while a cat. 

Mercedes crouched down, checking to see if he was ok, completely oblivious to the day's misfortune. Completely resigning himself to this fate, he allowed her to scratch the bottom of his chin. As consolation, he was certain Mercedes would be far gentler than anyone else who had tried to pet him today. 

Mercedes tilted her head quizzically as she looked at him. Something seemed to click in her mind, and she started talking to him. 

“You know, I’m looking for my friend Annie. Have you seen her at all?” He shook his head, much to her disappointment. “We found an old relic that she was going to give as a gift but I’m terribly afraid it may not have been what we thought it was. Do you happen to know anything about that?”

The pointed question caught him off guard. As always, her sharpness was in stark contrast to the happy-go-lucky demeanor she gave off. Even now, her benevolent smile hid any indication that she may have known exactly who he was and what had happened with that relic. 

“ _ Can you turn me back?”  _ he tried asking her, patting her leg with his paw to help convey the question. Like Annette she was incredibly skilled in magic; there was a good chance she could help. Her unchanged expression indicated she either hadn’t understood or was choosing to feign ignorance. 

Felix hated that he couldn’t tell which it was. 

“I wish I could turn into a cat like you,” Mercedes continued as she pet the length of his body. “You get to stay in the church all day, free to do what you wish.” 

He knew she’d always wished to work for the church even though her father did everything he could to block her from that path. Felix didn’t understand why— that life fit her perfectly. He wished she could live free from him. 

“ _ You really don’t want to be a cat, it’s terrible,”  _ he still felt the need to tell her. Mercedes giggled at his apparent attempt to answer her.

“My, it’s like we’re having a real conversation!” Felix’s tail flicked in annoyance. They  _ were  _ having a real conversation; she just couldn’t speak cat! “I wonder who else you got to talk to today,” she wondered aloud. 

“It’s comfortable talking to you like this,” she informed him. “Sometimes it’s hard to tell the people close to us what we really feel. Humans can be silly like that after all.” She gently reached out to stroke his head. He didn’t pull away, intently listening to her words. 

“But cats like you probably get to hear those feelings huh? I wonder what else a cat like you got to hear today?” 

“ _ Too much,”  _ he meowed in response, thinking of everything that happened. Was that why everyone had been speaking so candidly? Because he was a cat? 

Could he trust that those were their real feelings then? 

As he contemplated the implications of what she’d said, Mercedes stood up. “Well I should get going, Mr. Kitty.” Bending down one last time to pat his head, she left him to go about her own business. Staring after her until she was out of sight, he eventually stood up himself. He had his own business to attend to. 

Setting off towards the library to look for Annette, he tried to decide how he’d face everyone once he was human again. He had a feeling there was still lots left unsaid, and he’d have to mentally prepare himself if he wanted to broach the subject with any of them. Even if he kept a cat’s nine lives, it probably wouldn’t be enough time to unravel all the messy feelings he’d finally seen today.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to check out the zine, it's [here](https://twitter.com/felixzine/status/1292222874879746049?s=20) for free! You can also see the art by blossompuppy on tumblr that inspired the piece both in the zine immediately after my fic and on her tumblr [here!](https://blossompuppy.tumblr.com/post/625938373520064512/aaaa-its-out-heres-my-piece-for-the-cat-felix)
> 
> As always constructive criticism is welcomed!


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